Okay, here's what I'm wondering: On cake #1, is that a plastic deer, or one made out of fondant/gumpaste? I think it must be the former, becuase it looks VERY good, and wouldn't mesh with the quality on the rest of the cake.

The first one does look like a prairie fire. Which is cooking an oddly complacent deer.

The second one represents the trees and field better, but the writing looks like it was done by someone's two-year-old.

I bet if I applied for a cake decorating job I would be turned down cold (I'm a copy editor) but actually, not only can I decorate better, but also I can at least spell and punctuate the messages correctly!

Hey. That's an idea. Have these shops hire copy editors. No cake goes out without being proofread first.

wow... after really thinking about it, methinks that this is supposed to be a deer in the brush during hunting season (fall). However, you really shouldn't have to think that hard to figure out what a picture on a cake actually is!!!

And lets just assume someone out there is named "Pastard" and the cake wanted to tell Pastard that he's old. It's still wrong! Never mind torching the wildlife. The only thing this cake lacks is some nicely misused quotation marks!

I see two sides to this cake. Having hunted with my husband I can tell you the flames are probably meant to be long grass that is of course brown because prime deer season is usually fall-ish, so of course the grass is dead - and the sprinkles are leaves falling off the tree. But it's really badly executed. That's the practical side.

The fanciful side says that you're right and it's really flames. And Satan couldn't afford to hire four horsemen (even with outsourcing) let alone four horses because PETA wouldn't let him, so all he could find was ol' demon buck here.The apocalypse is upon us and Bambi is SERIOUSLY pissed about what happened to his mother.

I'm not sure I agree with you about the fire- I think its fall grass that's turned gold- and the thing on the side is supposed to be a tree? With Autumn leaves? But it does LOOK like it's supposed to be fire, doesn't it? Either way, the deer is clearly possessed by Satan. :)

Hate to be a spoil sport because I love looking at all the specimen cakes with the same cynical skewed scrutiny as our blog host, but c'mon. Those aren't forest fire cakes! They are lovely autumn depictions of deer gazing lovingly through meadow straw and bare nekkid trees save for a few acorns (shuddering at that word!). Not buying that, huh? Okay then, roasted venison for everyone!

I'm about to admit something horrible...that first cake -- I think it was a groom's cake at a wedding in South Carolina in the spring. I say that because it appeared on the WE show "Bridezillas" And now I've just admitted to watching that trainwreck.

Creepy doe-eyes aside..why on earth would there be more than one of these?! What occasion could possibly merit a red-velvet version of one of the final scenes from Bambi? Although I think it's sweet that "Your old Pastard" cared enough to send it to someone =)

OH GOOD...someone else saw this too. I thot I was the only one. IN the first one, the thing that jumped out at me is a letter F in the tree and a U in the deer's antler's. Warped sense of humor on the decorater's part??? LOL

the deer are definitely smiling. a really creepy come and shoot me if you can you old pastard kind of smile.

seriously... i think that these cakes were 'stock' fall/hunting cakes that the store bakery was supposed to have on hand (obviously one decorator was a bit more talented than the other) and that the hideous blue scrawling on the 2nd cake was an add on buy the purchaser and/or the non-skilled bakery employee that sold the cake. or at least that what i tell myself to make this okay...

Deer are so cute. I thought they were flames. Maybe it was meant for wildlife to purchase for their deceased friends memory? That was shot down by the next cake "Happy Birthday your old postcard". I'm happy it wasn't fire afterall. Poor Bambi.

I personally enjoy the fact that the leaves on the first "tree" are sprinkles-and star-shaped ones at that...not even leaf-shaped ones. I don't know what to make of the second one's inscription. Perhaps the cake is from an old friend named Pastard...Happy Birthday, (from) your old (friend) Pastard. But not all those words would fit so they had to pick their favorite ones?ps-I definitely saw the "FU" on the first one too.

I actually had to do a "deer hunting" cake for a 6 year old once. I went to Walmart to see if I could just buy something to go on the cake, and that was the cake they showed me....that deer is actually a magnet. Crazy....Needless to say, I am not a fan of hunting cakes.

What I want to know is, why is the sky green/yellow in both of these cakes? Don't tell me the green skyline is supposed to represent tree canopies, because if thats the case then these are the worst/laziest air-brushed "forests" I have ever seen. Plus, forests + prairie grass aren't usually found together, from what I understand.

Also, why make the "grass" yellow? I understand the autumn thing, but still. If they had simply made the grass green (or even brown/tan if you want the dead-grass look) then they would probably had avoided the whole "deer burning alive in massive fire" image altogether.

i thought that the deer must be plastic as well, seeing as how they are so well done, comparatively. but they look different from each other, meaning that both of these decorators somehow did the hardest part of the cake really well and the rest...not so much. and the grass in the second one does look a lot more like grass, except where it is by the tree, and looks like perfectly formed tongues of fire. totally strange

I'm w/ Robyn. The "r" is just retching. It's not a confusion b/t "your" and "you're" here. I also saw "postcard" at first and wondered if it was another phone order, "...and the deer, like in the old postcard..." until I scrolled down and read it was supposed to be "you" and "bastard."

I must remember to stroll through the grocery bakery more often w/ a camera! ;)

I am deeply sorry that some of your readers have absolutely no grasp of sarcasm, irony or hyperbole, and therefore make comments that doubt your intelligence. Most of us understand your brilliance and wit. Please do not ever be tempted to dumb down your hilarious commentary to appeal to the masses. Thank You.

I'm howling at the comments! So much to see and think about just on these two Wrecks!!

First, like several other Wreck Fans, I too saw "Postcard", then "Pastard" then made the leap to "Bastard" Ya gotta love it.

What creeps me out (also like many Wreck Fans) are the grinning, leering deer. These are DEFINITELY Stephen King deer - come for the hunters who killed them - with the flames of hell ... well never mind. I digress. In some ways the creepy trees (more like dead bean stalks) creep me out more!

See, I'm from one of the many parts of the country where deer hunting is, well, the be-all-end-all this time of year. It's the kind of place where the opening day of deer season is actually a school holiday. Yeah, it is. Really.

Anyhow, I knew that was a tree. And the fire isn't fire, it's brush/tall grass that was green in the summer but has since faded to a yellow-ish brown dead color that grass seems to go to.

I don't really understand why anyone would give someone a burning deer cake for their birthday, even if they are a Pastard. But, what would have improved both cakes would be if they added fire to the deer's antlers since he is obviously in the center of the fire.

"your mother can't be with you anymore." omg, when blossom and the gang told me that i just about flipped. disney had just turned down my contract in 'dumbo', it was supposed to be pink DEER, not elephants in that psychedlic dream sequence and i was just sooo upset about that. losing mom was the last thing i needed. for years after that i rampaged in suburban neighbourhoods, tearing up landscaping and probably inspiring the low-paid bakery workers that woke in the wee dawn hours and saw me as they trudged out their doors to go to their jobs.... um.. faline, ... honey, is that you?????? oops, gotta go, i really have to get out of this rut.. losing my day job has really been the pits... faline???? MOM!!!!!!

I had to read through all the comments and study cake #2 before I could believe that cake #1 wasn't supposed to be a recreation of the pivotal scene in Bambi.

It could be worse, though. To emphasize that it's a hunting cake, Bambi's chest could be exploding in a burst of blood and bullets. I wouldn't speculate that such a cake could exist, except that after seeing the cake for te natural birthing centre, I realize there are no boundaries to cake taste.

I think everyone's waaaay off with the second cake. Clearly the cake recipient is not only an avid hunter, but also has an excellent relationship with his church. His pastor and good friend recently retired or moved, so the cake was sent to the birthday boy with the inscription:

"Happy Birthday! Your Old Pastor, D."

Please, please let me be right, because the alternative is just too mind boggling, even after reading this blog for several months!

The second one looks pretty good to me, other than the "Pastard" part and the handwriting. It is clearly grass and an autumn tree. The first one, though - Wow. I love how the flames/grass climb all the way around the edges of the cake, like the whole thing is about to collapse in a giant fireball.

My son's birthday is Tuesday and there is a sick and twisted part of me that hopes his WALL•E cake is a hot mess. This is wrong, of course, as he's only going to be 6 and probably wouldn't find it nearly as hysterical as I would.

This is like the vase/face picture. I pull up cake wrecks and see a smiling deer on fire. Do a double-take and see a deer in alien world's meadow (you know, on a planet where the sky is green and yellow and the tall grass is strangely thick and the trees are like post-modern art). I see both bambi flambe and alien deer.

The second one is just weird. I read it as "Your old, Pastard" Maybe someone is telling the deer he's old and they plan on burning him alive now that he's outlived his usefulness?

Y'all have to start reading other people's comments before making your won... There's about 3 people who have already asked "Am I the only one who read it as 'your old postcard' first?". No, you are not the only one--if you had taken 2 minutes to check you would have known this.

I can't count how many people have pointed out that the cakes are supposed to show deer in tall autumn grass rather than in an inferno, as though no one else had already made this observation. YES. WE KNOW.

I used to work as a grocery store bakery cake decorator. I have made that cake kit before. The deer is a plastic magnet. The brown lines are supposed to be a tree with fall leaves (done with icing, not sprinkles) and that is supposed to be tall dry grass. I don't have a photo as evidence, but my execution of the cake was actually very nice, well, nice for a deer cake. Here's a link to a site that sells the kit, along with a photo of the cake that decorators are supposed to copy:http://www.basiccakes.com/Shop/cake-kits/deer-head-magnet-cake-kit-dhm-011.asp

Am I the only one who thinks it actually says "YOUR"? As in, "Happy Birthday Your old Pastard". Could it be saying something like "Happy Birthday! Love from Your Old Pastard" I know, it still makes no sense whatsoever. But I do think I see a definite R there at the end of that word.

Jessie, do y'all realize that messages are posted online in groups, that Jen or Mr Jen approve them before they are posted? So many times previous comments are *not* visible when another one is posted saying the same thing.

I have been checking back on these comments throughout the day and I can assure you, the comments I was referring to were definitely visible early enough for many of the repeat-information commentators.

I used to decorate cakes at a grocery store. The deer head is a magnet. The "fire" is actually supposed to be like prairie grass in the fall. This is how the cake is supposed to look:http://www.decopac.com/detail_16575__7-37.html

I always hated making this cake. If you love frosting this is your cake! All that grass (or fire lol) is a lot of frosting.

the first cake kind of at first glance looked like it says "F u" the F obviously in the shape of the sad tree/smoke stack area....and the antlers of the deer are kind of shaped like a U...well ok maybe my eyes just see what they want to see.

ok so after talking to my husband he says we have this cake all wrong... he is a deer hunter and he says that it looks more like a tree on the left in autumn hence the multi colored sprinkles and dots of icing. That my also be why it's brown... and he says if you notice the "flames" are all yellowish in color...kind of like a wheat field where deer like to eat. I mean I will say if it is a wheat field shame on them for making it look like flames...but I think my husband might be right about this one.

haha, what i don't understand is... one deer burning in a forest fire on a cake is pretty hilarious and weird, but why are there two?? is "deer burning in a fire with a tree on the left" a commonly requested cake theme for some reason...?

I have a site that's named perfect for this cake. www.flamingdeer.com is my site - Flaming Deer Designs is the name. Google automatically sends me anything with Flaming Deer in the name which is how I was directed here. Nice site, humorous. =)

Wait, look. It actually says Your Old Pastard. Maybe it was from your old Pastor. Maybe he was trying to tell you something. It is a cake with an important message from God. "your going to rot in hell with a crazed deer on your birthday." or "Satan is a deer, beware" Either way Happy Birthday!

i was lucky enough to spy this wreck today at walmart. i was dragging my husband across the store, "come here! you gotta see the flaming deer!" the version i saw had some lovely black mixed in with the flames.. i'm tempted to go back with my camera, but i'm guessing you've seen more since then!

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A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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